Turning Tables
by TammyDevil666
Summary: A different take on "Crush," Buffy has a change of heart and it leads to something she never would have expected.


**This is what being bored at work leads to, I honestly couldn't say where the idea came from. I know it's completely out of character, but I've been writing in a different fandom lately that I'm probably a bit rusty. RL has also been pretty hectic, for those who don't know, I was diagnosed with Cancer at the beginning of the year. I had a tumor that needed to be removed, two surgeries later and I'm still not completely out of the woods yet, but we're getting there. If anyone reads this oneshot, I hope you like it. Thanks to dusty273 for looking it over for me=)**

* * *

Spike knew someone had to be out to get him, that was the only explanation for it. He told Buffy of his feelings, only to get completely shot down as expected, and then Drusilla showed up to rub salt in his wounds. Of all the times for her to grace him with her presence, why did it have to be now? Why couldn't she have done so before he got the sodding chip in his head? Take him out of this bloody town before any feelings for Buffy surfaced? Unfortunately, the feelings were there long before he ever returned to Sunnydale. He just didn't want to admit it.

"I can make you all better, my sweet boy."

Spike rolled his eyes, and if vampires could get headaches, he probably would have one right about now. "What? You're going to magically get this chip out of my head? I don't see how you could help me, so why don't you just bugger off and leave me in peace? I have a liquor bottle that's calling my name."

She giggled. "The girl is just as lost. You terrify her, my Spike."

"What are you on about?"

Drusilla placed a finger to her lips. "Shush, we have a visitor."

Spike turned to the doorway to see Buffy standing there, a look of shock and fright on her face. Before he could say anything, she ran back out into the night. He silently cursed and took off after her. "Buffy, wait up!"

She stopped, taking in a deep breath before facing him.

Spike didn't know what to say, clearly not expecting her to listen. "Why did you come to my crypt? I figured you would be going out of your way to avoid me right now."

Buffy ignored his question. "Why is she here? Are you taking her back?"

He would have laughed at just the idea of that if she didn't look so serious. "I don't know why she's here, but I have no intention of going back to her."

"I can't do this," Buffy got out. "I thought I could, but I can't. I came to your crypt to apologize for the way I reacted earlier, even though I think it was totally justified. You just spring something like this on me; I think I had good reason to be freaked out. But that's not the point; seeing Drusilla again just made me realize even more that I can't do this."

Spike was concerned at the sight of her tears, moving closer to her. "You can't do what?"

"I can't be with you," she whispered, but knew his enhanced hearing would be able to pick it up. "I went there to tell you that we could give it a shot, but why go down that road when it won't lead to anything? I've done the whole vampire thing before and all it did was leave me gutted. I know you're nothing like Angel and I trust you far more than I would him, but you spent over a hundred years with her. I could never compete with that. You say you have feelings for me now, but that could all change. For all I know this is just an infatuation, and it completely came out of nowhere because just a couple weeks ago you were telling me I couldn't even hold Riley's interest. I believed you and started to think something was wrong with me, everyone I care for always ends up leaving. If I didn't let myself care for you, then that meant you couldn't leave. I didn't want to let you in because I'm not ready for you not to be here, and I know that probably doesn't make any sense…"

Spike kissed her then, putting all of his emotions behind the gesture. He pulled away when breathing became an issue for her, touching his forehead to hers. "If I haven't left when you wanted me gone, what in the world would make you think I'd leave when you want me here? What I said about Captain Cardboard, that was just my anger talking, it had nothing to do with you. I guarantee, love, you were not the problem. The man was a bloody fool. If you give me a chance, I promise I won't do anything to make you regret it."

Buffy wanted to believe him, and looking into his eyes, she almost did. "I just need a little time. Can you give me that?"

He nodded, taking a step back. "Take all the time you need, I'm not going anywhere."

* * *

Buffy was patrolling a few nights later, staying away from Spike was harder than she thought, but she needed more time to think about what she really wanted. She was too lost in her thoughts to feel a dark presence close by and before she knew it, a body collided with her, causing her to fall to the ground.

"Did I hurt you, deary?"

Buffy rolled her eyes, just what she needed. "Haven't left town yet? If you're waiting around for Spike to take you back, you're wasting your time."

Drusilla scoffed. "I should be very cross with you. My William is all confused, but he would never abandon his princess. You won't be enough for him."

She stood up, glaring at the dark haired vampire. "I'm going to say this as nicely as I can, get the hell out of my town. He's not yours anymore."

Drusilla had a wicked gleam in her eyes, pulling the blade out from her dress. "Such pretty sunshine would look better if she was bleeding."

Buffy dodged the blows when Drusilla came at her, gripping her stake tightly as she tripped the crazy vampire, aiming the weapon at her heart. One look at the other woman's face, and Buffy knew she couldn't do it. She thought about how mad Spike would be if she did, and that wasn't something she could bear. But her distraction caused Drusilla to get the upper hand, kicking the stake away from Buffy and drawing her blade down instead, stabbing the slayer in the abdomen. Buffy cried out from the pain, falling back down to the ground as her vision started to get blurry. She slipped in and out of consciousness, but immediately knew that Drusilla was gone, apparently leaving Buffy there to bleed to death.

It wasn't long before she felt someone take her in their arms, a frantic voice reaching her muddled head.

"Hold on, Buffy, you have to stay with me."

She had never been so relieved to hear his voice. "I'm sorry," Buffy told him. "I should have given you that chance."

Spike shook his head. "We'll have plenty of opportunities; don't speak of such things now. Christ, love, why didn't you kill her?"

"I couldn't do that to you."

He held her tighter, tears forming in his eyes. "I wouldn't have cared. God, I wouldn't have cared. You're going to be okay, I won't lose you."

Buffy held on to his words as the darkness enveloped her once again.

* * *

She awoke to the sounds of machines beeping in the distance. Her mouth was dry, and she could hardly even move. Buffy managed to get her eyes open, glancing around to see that she appeared to be in a hospital. She looked next to her, smiling at the sight of Spike sitting in the chair beside her bed. She tried to sit up, but that movement was enough to cause him to stir.

Spike rested his worried blue eyes on her, beyond relieved as he took her hand in his. "Welcome back, love."

"How long was I out for?" she croaked.

"Nearly two bloody days, longest of my existence. Your mates are all in the waiting room, when they realized I wasn't going to budge until you woke up, they stopped trying to get me to leave."

Buffy nodded as best she could. "How did you know where I was?"

He took in a deep, unneeded breath. "I was giving you space like we agreed, but I couldn't resist following you on patrol. I kept my distance as to not have you feel me, but I got a late start that night. If I showed up a few minutes later, you might not have made it. I'm so bloody sorry, love. I knew what Drusilla was capable of, but I didn't think she would come after you. I thought she just left town when she realized I wasn't going with her. She's never given a damn about me before, I guess she couldn't handle the fact I've fallen for someone else. You'll be all right, and when you're finally released from this prison, I'm going to take you on a proper date."

Buffy liked the sound of that; it gave her something to look forward to.

* * *

"You didn't have to do this."

Spike shrugged, he would have blushed at her admiration if it was possible. "It's nothing." He helped her sit down on the blanket he placed on the sand, knowing how Buffy had always wanted a moonlight picnic on the beach. It was one of their many discussions during their faux engagement; he knew it would be the perfect place for their first date.

"I can't believe you remembered," she responded, gazing out at the waves crashing in the ocean. It was so peaceful at night.

He smiled. "I remember everything. I may not have acted like it at the time, but I was so disappointed when Red broke that spell. I never wanted to stop kissing you."

Buffy blushed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "You weren't alone in that."

Spike had a feeling he wasn't, but it was still nice to know for sure. He unpacked the picnic basket, which was filled of all kinds of foods he knew she enjoyed, and some chocolate covered strawberries for dessert.

Buffy took a turkey sandwich from him. "It's been weeks with no sign of Drusilla, do you think she finally gave up?"

Spike nodded, biting into a chicken wing. "I think it's safe to say she won't be bothering us anymore."

* * *

"_Is the girl dead? Are you my prince again?"_

_Spike had never looked at her with so much hatred before. He left Buffy at the hospital hours ago, taking his time before making his way back to his crypt because he knew Drusilla would be waiting for him. "She's not dead, I made sure of that. It was a very nice try, though. Why are you really here, Dru? I know you could give a toss about me. What? Your precious 'Daddy' didn't want anything to do with you, so you come crawling back to your second choice? I'm bloody through playing second fiddle. You know, I was going to let you leave town unharmed, but that was before you dared to touch her. She even spared your life because she didn't want to hurt me, but you could have cared less to return the favor. You knew how I felt before I even did. You bloody well knew what her death would do to me, but I guess that's just more proof that you never once gave a rot about our relationship or whatever the hell it was."_

_Drusilla whimpered. "Poor Spike, you're so lost. She was trying to destroy our happy home."_

"_Bloody hell, look around you! This is not your home; anything we had was destroyed a long time ago. I've tried to be reasonable, but you don't leave me much choice. I want you gone, and there's only one way I can think of that will assure her safety." He didn't care about Drusilla's meaningless tears, or her loud pleas as he thrust the stake through her cold heart. He only watched emotionlessly as her ashes scattered to the floor. _

_It was finally over._

* * *

Buffy wiped her eyes, shaking her head. "God, Spike, she was your sire. You'll regret it some day and end up hating me; I know how much she meant to you."

He kissed her sweetly on the lips, wiping her tears away with his thumb. "It will never happen, what I felt for her faded a long bloody time ago. I love you, Buffy. I had to make a choice and I chose you, there's no doubt in my mind that I made the right one. I promise there will be no regrets. Yes, there may have been a slight twinge when I killed Drusilla, but it's nothing compared to how I would have felt if I lost you."

Buffy returned his kiss, putting all of her feelings on display without needing to utter a word. Deciding to let him in was possibly the best thing she'd ever done, there would be no going back now.

**The End**


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